Maricopa County Special Health Care District

A ‘Yes’ vote authorizes the district — called Valleywise — to borrow $898 million by selling bonds. The district has the power to repay these bonds by taxing our property. Governance is similar to the county board of supervisors. There are five districts and five board members, all theoretically elected. In November, 2024, three districts had elections but the incumbents were unopposed, so the elections were canceled. Here is the current board. Their governance is supplemented by a governing council, here. Membership in the council is by application. A majority must be current or former patients. Bylaws here.

Valleywise is a charity hospital but its role has not been re-considered since Obamacare began to provide essentially free health insurance to the poor. With Obamacare, poor US citizens can get medical care from any of the big hospital chains, such as Banner. Most of Valleywise’s patients are probably illegal immigrants. Most of Valleywise’s non-property-tax revenues are from Medicaid. (See 2024 financials, here.) That means that almost all of Valleywise’s revenues arise as taxes on us.

Valleywise has two specialties, its Burn Center and Behavioral Health. Behavioral Health is simple. If patients occupy beds, they are incarcerated to stop them from hurting themselves or others. They are jail cells. Both in-patient and out-patient treatment is simple, too: almost entirely pharmaceutical.

Valleywise proposes to spend $220 million from this bond issue to construct as many as 200 new beds, about $1 million per bed. St Vincent de Paul built its new 100 bed Ozanam Manor facility for $25 million, about $250,000 per bed. The Kolbe Mission proposes to build a 10 bed facility in Florence for $750,000. Please support them.